BWF World Championships

The BWF World Championships, aka the World Badminton Championships, is a badminton tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation.[1] It's the most prestigious badminton competition, offering the most ranking points, along with the Summer Olympics badminton events introduced in 1992.[2] The winners of the tournament are World Champions of the sport and are awarded a gold medal.[3]

BWF World Championships
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2023 BWF World Championships
FormerlyIBF World Championships
SportBadminton
Founded1977; 47 years ago (1977)
CountryBWF member nations

The tournament started in 1977 and was held once every three years until 1983. However, the International Badminton Federation faced difficulty in hosting the first two events as the World Badminton Federation, which later merged with the IBF to form one badminton federation, hosted the same tournament a year after the IBF World Championships with the same goals.

Since 1985, the tournament became biennial and played once every two years until 2005. Starting 2006, the tournament was changed to an annual event on the BWF calendar. The tournament is not held during the Summer Olympics years to avoid schedule conflicts.

Editions

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Year Edition Host City Dates Top Nation
1977 I Malmö, Sweden 3 to 8 May Denmark  
1980 II Jakarta, Indonesia 27 May to 1 June Indonesia  
1983 III Copenhagen, Denmark 2 to 8 May China  
1985 IV Calgary, Canada 10 to 16 June China  
1987 V Beijing, China 18 to 24 May China  
1989 VI Jakarta, Indonesia 29 May to 4 June China  
1991 VII Copenhagen, Denmark 2 to 8 May China  
1993 VIII Birmingham, England 31 May to 6 June Indonesia  
1995 IX Lausanne, Switzerland 22 to 28 May Indonesia  
1997 X Glasgow, Scotland 24 May to 1 June China  
1999 XI Copenhagen, Denmark 10 to 23 May South Korea  
2001 XII Seville, Spain 3 to 10 June China  
2003 XIII Birmingham, England 28 July to 3 August China  
2005 XIV Anaheim, United States 15 to 21 August China  
2006 XV Madrid, Spain 18 to 24 September China  
2007 XVI Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 13 to 19 August China  
2009 XVII Hyderabad, India 10 to 16 August China  
2010 XVIII Paris, France 23 to 29 August China  
2011 XIX London, England 8 to 14 August China  
2013 XX Guangzhou, China 5 to 11 August China  
2014 XXI Copenhagen, Denmark 25 to 31 August China  
2015 XXII Jakarta, Indonesia 10 to 16 August China  
2017 XXIII Glasgow, Scotland 21 to 27 August China  
2018 XXIV Nanjing, China 30 July to 5 August China  
2019 XXV Basel, Switzerland 19 to 25 August Japan  
2021 XXVI Huelva, Spain 12 to 19 December Japan  
2022 XXVII Tokyo, Japan 22 to 28 August China  
2023 XXVIII Copenhagen, Denmark 21 to 27 August South Korea  
2025 XXIX Paris, France
2026 XXX India

Venues

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The table below gives an overview of all host cities and countries of the World Championships. The most recent games were held in Copenhagen. The number in parentheses following the city/country denotes how many times that city/country has hosted the championships. From 1989 to 2001 the world championships were held immediately after the Sudirman Cup at the same location.

Host cities of the World Championships (Asia)
Host cities of the World Championships (North America)

Winners summary

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The map shown the countries which at least achieve a bronze medal during the tournament

As of 2022, only 21 countries have achieved at least a bronze medal in the tournament: 11 from Asia, eight from Europe, and one each from Oceania and North America. Africa is the only confederation that has not won a medal.

At the age of 18, Ratchanok Inthanon became the youngest winner of a singles title at the Championships.[4] Ratchanok was less than 3 months older than Jang Hye-ock was when she won the women's doubles title at the 1995 Championships.[5]

Most successful players

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Several players have won gold medals in more than one category in a World Championship; this includes:

From 1977 up to 2001, the medals were usually divided among five countries, namely China, Korea, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia. However, in 2003, the winners included seven countries and in 2005 the medal board contained a record high of ten countries.

Tony Gunawan also bears the distinction of winning a gold medal in Men's Doubles, representing two countries, 2001 partnering with Halim Haryanto for Indonesia and in 2005 partnering with Howard Bach to give the United States its first medal in the competition.

The 2005 edition also brought new faces to the mixed doubles event which had been dominated by China and Korea since 1997. With the retirement of defending champions and two-time winners Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min (Korea), Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir won Indonesia's first mixed doubles gold since 1980 when Christian Hadinata/Imelda Wiguna won it last for Indonesia.

Below is the list of the most successful players ever, with 3 or more gold medals.

Rank Player MS WS MD WD XD Total
1   Lin Dan 5 5
  Zhao Yunlei 2 3 5
  Park Joo-bong 2 3 5
4   Cai Yun 4 4
  Chen Qingchen 4 4
  Fu Haifeng 4 4
  Gao Ling 3 1 4
  Jia Yifan 4 4
  Zhang Nan 1 3 4
  Liliyana Natsir 4 4
  Hendra Setiawan 4 4
12   Ge Fei 2 1 3
  Guan Weizhen 3 3
  Han Aiping 2 1 3
  Huang Sui 3 3
  Huang Yaqiong 3 3
  Li Lingwei 2 1 3
  Lin Ying 3 3
  Yu Yang 3 3
  Zheng Siwei 3 3
  Mohammad Ahsan 3 3
  Kim Dong-moon 1 2 3
  Carolina Marín 3 3

Below is the list of the most successful player(s) in each category (listed according to their last title):

Category Player Total Year
MS   Lin Dan 5 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013
WS   Carolina Marín 3 2014, 2015, 2018
MD   Cai Yun 4 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 (with Fu Haifeng)
  Fu Haifeng 4 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 (with Cai Yun)
  Hendra Setiawan 4 2007 (with Markis Kido), 2013, 2015, 2019 (with Mohammad Ahsan)
WD   Chen Qingchen 4 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 (with Jia Yifan)
  Jia Yifan 4 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 (with Chen Qingchen)
XD   Liliyana Natsir 4 2005, 2007 (with Nova Widianto), 2013, 2017 (with Tontowi Ahmad)

MS: Men's singles; WS: Women's singles; MD: Men's doubles; WD: Women's doubles; XD: Mixed doubles

Most successful national teams

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Below is the gold medalists shown based by category and countries after the 2023 BWF World Championships. China has been the most successful in the World Championships ever since its inception in 1977. They were the only country ever to achieve a shutout of the medals which they did in 1987, 2010 and 2011.

BOLD means overall winner of that World Championships

Rank Nation 77 80 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 06 07 09 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 23 Total
1   China 2 3 5 4 3 1 1 3 21 3 3 22 4 3 4 5 5 23 3 3 2 24 1 1 2 1 70
2   Indonesia 1 4 1 3 2 1 2 22 2 23 1 1 1 23
3   South Korea 2 1 2 1 21 1 1 3 13
4   Denmark 3 1 0.5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11.5
5   Japan 1 1 24 2 2 1 9
6   Spain 1 1 1 3
  Thailand 1 1 1 3
8   England 1 0.5 1 2.5
9   India 1 1
  Malaysia 1 1
  Singapore 1 1
  Sweden 0.5 0.5 1
  United States 1 1
^1 Korea won on the superior of two silver medals to China's one and thus Korea became the overall winner.
^2 China won on superior of four silver medals to Indonesia's one and thus China became the overall winner.
^3 China won on the superior of two silver medals to Indonesia's none and thus China became the overall winner.
^4 China won on superior of four bronze medals to Japan's two and thus China became the overall winner.

Championship per country

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Men's singles

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Rank Nation 77 80 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 06 07 09 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 23 Total
1   China X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 14
2   Indonesia X X X X X X 6
3   Denmark X X X X 4
4   Japan X X 2
5   Singapore X 1
  Thailand X 1

Women's singles

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Rank Nation 77 80 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 06 07 09 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 23 Total
1   China X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 15
2   Japan X X X 3
  Spain X X X 3
4   Denmark X X 2
  Indonesia X X 2
6   India X 1
  Thailand X 1
  South Korea X 1

Men's doubles

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Rank Nation 77 80 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 06 07 09 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 23 Total
1   Indonesia X X X X X X X X X X 10
2   China X X X X X X X X 8
3   South Korea X X X X X 5
4   Denmark X X 2
5   Japan X 1
  Malaysia X 1
  United States X 1

Women's doubles

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Rank Nation 77 80 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 06 07 09 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 23 Total
1   China X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 23
2   Japan X X X 3
3   England X 1
  South Korea X 1

Mixed doubles

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Rank Nation 77 80 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 97 99 01 03 05 06 07 09 10 11 13 14 15 17 18 19 21 22 23 Total
1   China X X X X X X X X X X 10
2   South Korea X X X X X X 6
3   Indonesia X X X X X 5
4   Denmark X / X X 3.5
5   England / X 1.5
6   Sweden \ \ 1
  Thailand X 1

Medal table

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As of the 2023 edition, does not include one stripped silver medal from 2014[6]
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  China704983202
2  Indonesia23203780
3  South Korea13153361
4  Denmark11.5154167.5
5  Japan992139
6  Thailand32510
7  Spain3104
8  England2.58.51324
9  Malaysia181423
10  India14914
11  Sweden1258
12  Singapore1001
  United States1001
14  Chinese Taipei0369
15  Hong Kong0134
16  Netherlands0112
17  Scotland00.511.5
18  Germany0055
19  France0011
  New Zealand0011
  Vietnam0011
Totals (21 entries)140139280559

Medal distribution

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Men's singles

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As of the 2023 edition

Due to the disqualification on suspicion of violation of anti-doping regulations, the 2014 silver medalist Lee Chong Wei was stripped of his medal and thus the medal count does not add up.[6]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  China1461434
2  Indonesia671326
3  Denmark451423
4  Japan2114
5  Thailand1113
6  Singapore1001
7  Malaysia0426
8  India0145
  South Korea0145
10  Chinese Taipei0112
11  Sweden0011
  Vietnam0011
Totals (12 entries)282756111

Women's singles

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As of the 2023 edition
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  China15162556
2  Japan3148
3  Spain3104
4  Indonesia2259
5  Denmark2035
6  India1337
7  South Korea1157
8  Thailand1012
9  Chinese Taipei0224
10  England0123
11  Hong Kong0101
12  Germany0044
13  France0011
  Netherlands0011
Totals (14 entries)282856112

Men's doubles

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As of the 2023 edition
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Indonesia1061026
2  China841123
3  South Korea56819
4  Denmark24713
5  Malaysia141116
6  Japan1236
7  United States1001
8  England0224
9  Sweden0022
10  Chinese Taipei0011
  India0011
Totals (11 entries)282856112

Women's doubles

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As of the 2023 edition
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  China23131652
2  Japan331016
3  South Korea151218
4  England1135
5  Indonesia0347
6  Denmark0178
7  Sweden0112
8  Netherlands0101
9  Chinese Taipei0011
  India0011
  Thailand0011
Totals (11 entries)282856112

Mixed doubles

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As of the 2023 edition
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  China10101737
2  South Korea62412
3  Indonesia52512
4  Denmark3.551018.5
5  England1.54.5612
6  Thailand1124
7  Sweden1113
8  Japan0235
9  Scotland00.511.5
10  Hong Kong0033
11  Chinese Taipei0011
  Germany0011
  Malaysia0011
  New Zealand0011
Totals (14 entries)282856112

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "World Ranking System". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Regulations for World Championships". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Chin Chai hopes BWF will offer prize money for world meet". The Star. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  4. ^ "World champion Ratchanok Inthanon also a 'devoted' kid". The Indian Express. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  5. ^ Hearn, Don (11 August 2013). "WORLDS Finals – Ratchanok youngest ever singles World Champion". Badzine. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Lee Chong Wei: Badminton star given eight-month ban for doping". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
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